Members of MCHE's Isak Federman Holocaust Teaching Cadre share their expertise as classroom educators exploring resources, teaching techniques and important programs they feel are valuable in Holocaust education.
Sonia was born Suraleh in Luboml, Poland. She was given the name Sonia when she joined a Russian partisan group because her name would have been “too Jewish” and put her in danger from some of the partisans themselves. Sonia’s story took her from the security of her shtetl to the ghetto to the forests of partisan groups. Eventually she, her husband, and her father experienced the DP camps before they were allowed to immigrate to the United States. She described her experiences clearly, directly, and openly.
Sonia’s experiences touch on many themes: loss of family, being in hiding, resistance, survival, partisan activities and struggles, love, retribution, generosity. She has chance encounters with so many others whose stories are also fascinating to research including:
Rabbi David Baruch, who participated in the one rally for rescue in the nation’s capital;
Eleanor Roosevelt, who visited the DP camp where Sonia and her family were living (select Sonia Orbuch)
Sara and Hayim Fershko, musicians who suffered horrifically in the hands of the Nazis—they were befriended in New York City by Sonia’s husband.
Sonia’s story (using the entire book or specific sections) would give students a view into one survivor’s partisan activities and would help answer questions on Jewish resistance.
Following a presentation by Mitch Braff, the Executive Director of the Jewish Partisans Educational Foundation, during the summer course offered by MCHE, I decided to explore the JPEF website. What I found was a user-friendly wealth of information about Jewish partisans (a little-known/taught area of the Holocaust from my experience)--primary sources including first-person testimonies, videos, photographs, and letters; interactive maps, lesson plans and accompanying materials for easy download, and a fascinating set of courses provided though E-Learning.
From the homepage, select Teach, then E-Learning. After creating your account (which is free), you are ready to select a course. I started with “How to Use the JPEF E-Learning Platform.” This course provides comprehensive background on the partisans and resistance basics. Upon completion of this course, a teacher is prepared to teach a 45-60 minute class on Jewish resistance. The presentation is engaging, using interactive maps and photos to cover forms of resistance (including spiritual, artistic, sabotage, and humor). Many interesting anecdotes enhance the material; and the film, Introduction to the Jewish Partisans, provides a fascinating overview narrated by Ed Asner, whose cousin was a partisan (an interesting local connection there).
Each lesson provided is designed to be used in a single class period. The films range in length from 3-21 minutes. Everything I viewed is designed to be very teacher-friendly. There is a virtual underground bunker for students to explore. The themes covered in the lessons include heroism, ethics, leadership, power, resistance, and one’s personal responsibilities.
One of the student activities that I found most creative is entitled “Someone Like Me.” A student is paired with a partisan with similar characteristics—the student can then read a biography of that partisan, do additional research on the site, and share the information with the rest of the class.
The purpose of the activities is not only to help students learn about Jewish resistance and the partisans but to also help students apply the life lessons from this history. I highly recommend the site—but preview the films and activities carefully as some are more suited for high school students. The E-Learning classes (I just completed the one on Women Partisans as well) make use of unique and engaging primary sources—almost makes me wish I were still teaching (almost)—I know students would benefit from these creative activities.
When I signed up for MCHE’s four-day summer education seminar, “Responses to the Holocaust: Perpetrators, Victims, and Bystanders,” I assumed it would be a chance for me to review and solidify my understanding of the Holocaust.
Well, the seminar ended up being a good reminder that it’s not wise to make assumptions, because I spent most of it “complicating my thinking.” Mitch Braff, executive director of the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, used this phrase to encourage us to embrace the Holocaust’s complexities. The presenters made me question basic assumptions I had about the Holocaust. Here are some examples:
· By analyzing actual train shipments, noted historian Dr. Robert Jan van Pelt challenged the commonly held belief that the Germans diverted resources from the Eastern Front to murder Jews. According to his research, in 1944 at the height of the Hungarian deportation, only ten of every 25,000 trains running each day in Europe were designated for the deportation of Jews.
· Dr. Severin Hochberg, a former historian with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, discussed the extent to which the Catholic Church, and specifically Pope Pius XII, was a bystander.
· On the final day, we explored the role of Jewish partisans in the war and the ethical issues they faced.
This seminar did complicate my thinking, but in a good way. Participating in these discussions reminded me that history is about real people, and it must be understood with all of its complexities to do it justice.
